February 3, 2010

Bush to The Hague for war-crimes

The Canadian Charger

"YOU can help," says Professor Francis A. Boyle of the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign, U.S.A. as he seeks support for a worldwide grassroots campaign to have former president George Bush and several of his top officials sent to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the war crimes of "extraordinary rendition."

Prof. Boyle says he wants everyone in the world to contact
the I.C.C. prosecutor and demand Bush's prosecution.

“Once that is set up we use it to pressure all governments
in the world to investigate, extradite and prosecute Bush et al., including our
own. The principles of international criminal law that they have violated apply
everywhere in the world,” Prof. Boyle says.

He adds that he and his supporters also need as many endorsements
from NGO's as they can get.

Although Prof. Boyle has just filed his complaint with the
ICC a couple of weeks ago, he has already received an acknowledgement of his complaint
from The Hague and he has an endorsement from The International Organization for
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (EAFORD), a Switzerland-based
Human Rights organization.

In his letter to Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the Prosecutor of the
ICC, Prof. Boyle says his complaint is against U.S. Citizens George W. Bush, Richard
Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice, and Alberto Gonzales (hereinafter
referred to as the “Accused”) “for their criminal policy and practice of 'extraordinary
rendition.'

This term is really a euphemism for the enforced disappearances
of persons, their torture, severe deprivation of their liberty, their violent sexual
abuse, and other inhumane acts perpetrated upon these victims.”

He adds in his complaint that the Accused have inflicted this
criminal policy and practice of “extraordinary rendition” upon about 100 people,
almost all of whom are Muslims/Arabs/Asians and people of color.

He explains that because the accused's policy and practice
was widespread and systematic it falls within the meaning of the Rome Statute.

Although the U.S. Is not a signatory to the Rome Statute,
Prof. Boyle argues that the accused ordered, and were responsible for the commission
of these I.C.C. Statutory crimes on, in, and over the respective territories of
several I.C.C. Member states, including many in
Europe; therefore, the I.C.C. Has jurisdiction over the accused for their
alleged I.C.C. Statutory crimes.

While there was some speculation when President Obama first
took office that he may investigate allegations against previous administration
officials, he subsequently made it clear through public statements that he is not
going to open any criminal investigation of the accused for the aforementioned crimes.

Because we still have no accounting of the victims, Prof.
Boyle says many of them could still be alive today and their lives are at stake
right now.

He tells Mr. Moreno-Ocampo that he could save some lives by
publicly stating that he is opening an investigation of Prof. Boyle's complaint.

Moreover, Prof. Boyle says an I.C.C. Investigation is the
only way to obtain some explanation and accounting for the whereabouts and the location
of the remains of the victims in order to communicate this crucial information to
their next-of-kin and loved-ones.

Although the new Obama administration has publicly stated
that is will continue the accused's policy of “extraordinary rendition,” Prof. Boyle
tells Mr. Moreno-Ocampo that “Your opening an investigation of my complaint will
undoubtedly deter the Obama administration from engaging in any more “extraordinary
renditions” - enforced disappearances of human beings and having them tortured by
other states.”

He says that an investigation could very well save the lives
of a large number of additional human beings who otherwise will be subjected by
the Obama administration to the Rome Statute Crimes against humanity of enforced
disappearances and their consequent torture by other states.

Prof. Boyle adds in his letter to Mr. Moreno-Ocampo that if
he doesn't open an investigation of his complaint, Prof. Boyle will file a follow-up
complaint against the highest level officials of the Obama administration.

He concludes his letter by requesting a meeting with Mr. Moreno-Ocampo
at their earliest mutual convenience to discuss his complaint.

YOU can help:

Contact The Hague to urge they proceed in investigation of war-crimes committed
by the accused (Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Tenet and Gonzales) in the
acts called "Extraordinary Rendition" as quickly as possible.

The Accused’s criminal policy and practice of “extraordinary
rendition” are both “widespread” and “systematic” within the meaning of Rome
Statute article 7(1). Therefore the Accused
have committed numerous “Crimes against Humanity” in flagrant and repeated and longstanding
violation of Rome Statute articles 5(1)(b), 7(1)(a), 7(1)(e), 7(1)(f), 7(1)(g),
7(1)(h), 7(1)(i), and 7(1)(k). Furthermore,
the Accused’s Rome Statute Crimes Against Humanity of enforced disappearances of
persons constitutes ongoing criminal activity that continues even as of today.

The United States is not a contracting party to the
Rome Statute. Nevertheless, the Accused ordered
and were responsible for the commission of these I..C.C. statutory crimes on, in,
and over the respective territories of several I.C.C. member states, including many
located in Europe. Therefore, the I.C.C.
has jurisdiction over the Accused for their I.C.C. statutory crimes in accordance
with Rome Statute article 12(2)(a), which provides as follows:

Article 12

Preconditions to the Exercise of Jurisdiction…

2. In the case
of article 13, paragraph (a) or (c), the Court may exercise its jurisdiction if
one or more of the following States are Parties to this Statute or have accepted
the jurisdiction of the Court in accordance with paragraph 3:

(a)
The State on the territory of which the conduct in question
occurred …

So the fact that United States is not a contracting
party to the Rome Statute is no bar to the I.C.C.’s prosecution of the Accused because
they have ordered and been responsible for the commission of Rome Statute Crimes
against Humanity on, in, and over the respective territories of several I.C.C. member
states.

Consequently, I
hereby respectfully request that the Court exercise its jurisdiction over
the Accused for these Crimes against Humanity in accordance with Rome Statute article
13(c), which provides as follows:

Article 13

Exercise of Jurisdiction

The Court may exercise its jurisdiction with respect
to a crime referred to in article 5 in accordance with the provisions of this Statute
if:

(c)
The Prosecutor has initiated an investigation in
respect of such a crime in accordance with article 15.

Pursuant to Rome Statute article 13(c), I hereby respectfully
request that you initiate an investigation proprio motu against the Accused in accordance
with Rome Statute article 15(1): “The Prosecutor may initiate investigations proprio
motu on the basis of information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.” My detailed Complaint against the Accused constitutes
the sufficient “information” required by article 15(1).

Furthermore, I respectfully submit that this Complaint
by itself constitutes “a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation” under
Rome Statute article 15(3). Hence, I also
respectfully request that you formally “submit to the Pre-Trial Chamber a request
for authorization of an investigation” of the Accused under Rome Statute article
15(3) at this time. Please inform me at your
earliest convenience about the status and disposition of my two requests set forth
immediately above.

Based upon your extensive human rights work in Argentina, you know full well
from direct personal experience the terrors and the horrors of enforced disappearances
of persons and their consequent torture. According to reputable news media sources
here in the United States, about 100 human beings have been subjected to enforced
disappearances and subsequent torture by the Accused. We still have no accounting
for these Victims. In other words, many of these Victims of enforced disappearances
and torture by the Accused could still be alive today. Their very lives are at stake
right now as we communicate.. You could very
well save some of their lives by publicly stating that you are opening an investigation
of my Complaint.

As for those Victims of enforced disappearances by the Accused who have died,
your opening an investigation of my Complaint is the only means by which we might
be able to obtain some explanation and accounting for their whereabouts and the
location of their remains in order to communicate this critical information to their
next-of-kin and loved-ones. Based upon your
extensive experience combating enforced disappearances of persons and their consequent
torture in Argentina, you know full well how important that objective is. The next-of-kin, loved-ones, and friends of “disappeared”
human beings can never benefit from psychological “closure” unless and until there
is an accounting for the fates, if not the remains, of the Victims. In part that is precisely why the Accused’s enforced
disappearances of about 100 human beings constitutes ongoing criminal activity that
continues as of today and will continue until the fates of all their Victims have
been officially determined by you opening an investigation into my Complaint.

Let us mutually suppose that during the so-called “dirty war” in Argentina
the International Criminal Court had been in existence. I submit that as an Argentinean human rights lawyer
you would have moved heaven and earth and done everything in your power to get the
I.C.C. and its Prosecutor to assume jurisdiction over the Argentine Junta in order
to terminate and prosecute their enforced disappearances and torture of your fellow
Argentinean citizens. I would have done the
same. Unfortunately, the I.C.C. did not exist
during those darkest of days for the Argentine Republic when we could have so acted. But today as the I.C.C. Prosecutor, you have both
the opportunity and the legal power to do something to rectify this mass and total
human rights annihilation, and to resolve and to terminate and to prosecute the
“widespread” and “systematic” policy and practice of enforced disappearances and
consequent torture of about 100 human beings by the Accused.

Unfortunately, the new Obama administration in the United States has made
it perfectly clear by means of public statements by President Obama and his Attorney
General Eric Holder that they are not going to open any criminal investigation of
any of the Accused for these aforementioned Crimes against Humanity. Hence an I.C.C. “case” against the Accused is
“admissible” under Rome Statute article 1(complementarity) and article 17. As of right now you and the I.C.C. Judges
are the only people in the entire world who can bring some degree of Justice, Closure,
and Healing into this dire, tragic, and deplorable situation for the lives and well-being
of about one hundred “disappeared” and tortured human beings as well as for their
loved-ones and next-of-kin, who are also Victims of the Accused’s Crimes against
Humanity. On behalf of them all, as a fellow human rights lawyer I implore you to
open an investigation into my Complaint and to issue a public statement to that
effect.

Also, most regretfully, the new Obama administration has publicly stated
that it will continue the Accused’s policy and practice of "extraordinary rendition,"
which is really their euphemism for enforced disappearances of human beings and
consequent torture by other States. Hence
the Highest Level Officials of the Obama administration fully intend to commit their
own Crimes against Humanity under the I.C.C. Rome Statute – unless you stop them! Your opening an investigation of my Complaint
will undoubtedly deter the Obama administration from engaging in any more “extraordinary
renditions” -- enforced disappearances of human beings and having them tortured
by other States. Indeed your opening of an investigation into my Complaint might
encourage the Obama administration to terminate its criminal “extraordinary rendition”
program immediately and thoroughly by means of issuing a public statement to that
effect. In other words, your opening an investigation
of my Complaint could very well save the lives of a large number of additional human
beings who otherwise will be subjected by the Obama administration to the Rome Statute
Crimes against Humanity of enforced disappearances of persons and their consequent
torture by other States, inter alia.

The lives and well-being of countless human beings are now at risk, hanging
in the balance, waiting for you to act promptly, effectively, and immediately to
save them from becoming Victims of Rome Statute Crimes against Humanity perpetrated
by the Highest Level Officials of the Obama
administration as successors-in-law to the Accused by opening an investigation of
my Complaint. Otherwise, I shall be forced
to file with you and the I.C.C. a follow-up Complaint against the Highest Level
Officials of the Obama administration. I
certainly hope it will not come to that.
Please make it so.

Finally, for reasons more fully explained in the Conclusion to my
Complaint, I respectfully request that you obtain I.C.C. arrest warrants for the
Accused in accordance with Rome Statute articles 58(1)(a), article 58(1)(b)(i),
article 58(1)(b)(ii), and article 58(1)(b)(iii). The sooner, the better for all humankind.

I respectfully request that you schedule a meeting with me at our earliest
mutual convenience in order to discuss this Complaint. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest
convenience.

This transmission letter is an integral part of my Complaint
against the Accused and is hereby incorporated by reference into the attached Complaint
dated as of today as well.

Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.

Francis A. Boyle

Professor of International Law

Francis A. Boyle

Law Building

504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.

Champaign, IL 61820 USA

217-333-7954 (voice)

217-244-1478 (fax)

(personal comments only)

ENDORSEMENTS:

THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
FOR THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION (EAFORD)